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PEFC sponsors Responsible Timber CPD at Surface Design Show 2019

PEFC UK will be hosting a Responsible Timber Sourcing CPD PEFC at the Surface Design Show 2019 in London on Wednesday 6 February. The fully accredited CPD is open to architects, specifiers and contractors and certificates of attendance will be awarded.

The CPD module will be presented by Charlie Law, Managing Director of Sustainable Construction Solutions, who has worked in the construction sector for over 30 years, and has extensive industry knowledge having worked for BAM, Kier and Lendlease. Charlie is also a Director at the Timber Research and Development Association (TRADA), a member of the Grown in Britain Executive and a member of the Ska technical committee.

The CPD workshop will provide:• The background to forest certification and its global importance• The UK timber market and drivers for certified timber• The requirements of the UK government’s timber procurement policy • What a model timber specification clause looks like• Chain of Custody certification and how it works.

Using timber from well-managed forests that meet internationally recognised standards of legality and sustainability, certified by organisations such as PEFC is a pre-requisite for environmental assessment schemes such as BREEAM, LEED and Ska, as well as many others around the world. Green building standards, together with corporate responsible sourcing policies, are increasingly driving demand for responsibly-sourced timber. To meet client expectations, it is therefore important that designers and specifiers insist on certified timber for their projects, along with full Chain of Custody.

This year’s PEFC UK Stakeholder Meeting will be held on 16th October in London. The event theme is innovation and technology in the forest products sector.

The keynote speaker will be Anthony Thistleton, partner at award-winning practice Waugh Thistleton Architects. He will demonstrate how engineered wood products such as CLT and glulam are changing the face of our cities and influencing contemporary architecture. Since designing the first CLT structure in the UK in 2004 and completing the world’s first high rise timber building in London in 2009, Waugh Thistleton have been passionate advocates of engineered timber.

As the drive continues to embed technical solutions in both the construction and forestry sectors, Robin Askey from Envirosense will also explore the future role that developing technologies such as Blockchain might play in the forest certification sector, where it could have a game-changing effect on chain of custody management and supply chain transparency.

Sponsored by James Latham, SGS, AB Packaging and PEFC International, this event will be relevant to sustainability and procurement professionals trading in wood-based products including retailers, brand owners, contractors and wood products manufacturers. The afternoon will close with a networking and drinks reception.

The event is free to attend but there are a limited number of places available so prompt registration is recommended.

PEFC UK to hold two free workshops on sustainable forest management and Chain of Custody

PEFC UK will be holding two different seminars in February designed to provide a clear understanding of what lies behind the PEFC label and why certification and Chain of Custody is so important.

These free workshops will explain the certification procedures behind PEFC certification. Delegates are also invited to participate in discussing the challenges, benefits and business opportunities that PEFC Chain of Custody certification presents.

The event includes the PEFC General Assembly along with meetings and workshops and comes to a close with the two-day PEFC Stakeholder Dialogue, open to everybody.

The General Assembly is made up of all the members of PEFC and is the organisation's highest authority and decision-making body. PEFC members will have the opportunity to vote on key decisions such as endorsements, international standards, new members, statutes and budget.

PEFC Week has also grown to feature one of the most important annual public dialogues on the future of forest certification and sustainable forest management: the PEFC Stakeholder Dialogue.

This year, PEFC Stakeholder Dialogue's theme will be 'Making Certification SMART' focusing on how new and emerging technologies can support forest certification.

This year’s theme will be Delivering Impacts in the Forest with speakers from the UK and overseas providing a snapshot of the importance of forest certification and how it is affecting forests in North America, Asia and Europe.

Although the UK has one of the lowest forest cover areas in Europe – just 13%, compared to 75% in Finland, 32% in Germany and 29% in France – it is the sixth largest consumer market in the world and the fifth largest timber importer. The presentations will enable those who are trading in certified forest products to learn more about what lies behind the PEFC label and the difference forest certification is making on the ground. Speakers from around the world will illustrate the vital importance of forests to biodiversity, rural development and carbon sequestration.

Subjects will include the key role that forests play in capturing carbon across North American woodlands from Dr Mark Johnston, of the Saskatchewan Research Council, Ana Rengifo Abbad will showcase Iberia’s cork oak forests and their role in rural development. Dr Melvin Gumal from the Wildlife Conservation Society, Malaysia, will illustrate the vital importance of keeping tropical forests healthy to ensure that future habitats for endangered species are protected, with Confor’s Andrew Heald explaining how biodiversity works from a UK forestry perspective.

The afternoon will conclude with a Q&A discussion session chaired by PEFC International’s Peter Latham followed by a networking drinks reception. PEFC UK Chairman, Ross Bradshaw said: “The UK is such a huge marketplace for forest products, encompassing everything from paper cups and packaging materials to joinery products and structural timber that people forget the fundamental role PEFC plays in the forest. We hope that all those joining us for this year’s stakeholder event will be able to gain a better understanding of the impact PEFC certification has on local communities and forest owners and how that translates into the certified material we know so well.”

The event will be sponsored by James Latham, Soil Association and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI).